TGS 2006: Kingdom of Paradise 2: Busouden

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SCE continues its impressive action-RPG with more beauty and action.

By Nix

Kingdom of Paradise was something of a love-hate affair for a few gamers -- its structured combat of pre-chained attack moves and its slow start turned many away, but those who stayed through it seemed to have loved how it unfolded. Sony Computer Entertainment and Climax Japan are expanding the adventure with a new chapter in what we hope is an ongoing series for the portable, adding new characters and even more gorgeous graphics for the second game.

Kingdom of Paradise 2 switches out the wimpy-looking fellow of the first game for a muscle-bound blond fighter named Rou, who is accompanied by a whispy young girl named Shunka into battle in this fantasical island world of danger and magic when a terrible omen falls on their people living in the shadow of the great heavenward Sema Gate. As before, the guy is the heavy lifter of the team, smashing enemies with his axe-staffs and swords while the girl conjures magic. You can switch between the two characters on the fly, allowing the CPU to take over the character you need least to take specific action in a given situation. New to the sequel are a whole bunch of new girls besides your main squeeze -- at various points in the game, you can switch partners with some fierce-looking babes (one a wicked-looking women in black who had moves that make your head spin, another a delicate woman with many magics to cast.)

The sequel cranks up the detail considerably, with more effects and sharper character models. Standing atop a bluff in the stage we played, you could see a series of cascading waterfalls far off in the distance. There are also more detailed and active towns, including an open marketplace with dozens of people going about their business. Some awesome grass effects also stood out, showing tall stems of flowing grass blowing in the breeze, and there are sometimes handy (and gorgeous) fly-bys of stages when you enter an area for the first time. Enemy characters this time are more fantasical and odd compared to last game's usual band of thugs and soldiers -- most of the demo we played had us battling these bizarre red human-like creatures with disjointed limbs and only partial bodies. The two leads now sport fancier and more complex costumes, and the voice acting, as in the first game, is very well done. The one point we wish had been fixed is the loadtimes between zones, which are still there and still distracting, although the areas seem slightly bigger than in the past game and so should need loading less often.

Kingdom of Paradise 2 ships in Japan on October 19th. A release outside of Japan has not been scheduled, so check back for updates on if it will make it over.